Vending-machine.



E. W. FLINT.

i VBNDING- Mmmm. APFLIOATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1911. EENEWED DEU. l2, 10M?.

Patneol July 22, 1MB.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

- Suva/whom .61 frowup July 22,1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 lwvmavbo@ E iii/Wwf om. l g 1 2I 1 nm uu D D E W. E 'N EE N.R I ML Am M1. Gm my DW ms VD E L I nl N 0 I ,T A 0 I ,L P P A W. PLINT. VENDING M ACHINE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. Z3, 1911. EENEWBD DEO. 12, 1912. Patented July 22, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' I'UivrrEDsinirns PATENT OFFICE;

:EUGEITEA W. FLINT, `O1i` ORANGE, CALIFORNIA, .ASSIGNORTO THE HOME NOVELTY COMPANY, 'OF SANTA AiNA, CALIFORNU,A A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

veniamo-MACHINE.

i Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 22,1913.

Application filed eptember 23, 1911, Serial No. 650,882. Renewed December 12, 1912. Serial No. 736,431.

To all wh'oit t may concern y Be it known that I, EUGENE W. FLINT, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Orange, in the county of Orange, State of California', have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending-Machines; and I do,l hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine.

This invention relates to an improvement in vending machines of thatclass especially adapted for vending pencils or. other like articles. l i

The principal object of the invention is to lprovide a coin controlled dispensing mechanism for discharging one or more pencils'in each operation. p

A further object of the invention 1S to provide a dispensing mechanism ofthe character described,'in which there is provided a novel construction of ejector means -for raising-thepencil from the dispensing mechanism to permit of the same being readily grasped bythe hand of the operatoi.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a vending machine of thefcharacter described which is extremely .simple iii construction, it being composed ofa minimum number of parts and is therefore cheap to manufacture. v

VViththese and other objects iii view, the

invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanyingV drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended; it being 'understood that` various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of construction within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without demarting from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a vending machine constructed in accordance with my invention, FigQQ is a detail perspective view of the swinging article delivery means, F

Sis a"sectional view taken on the line 3 3 o f Fig. 1, Fig.4 is an end elevation of the machine, Fig. 5 is a view, partly in section, showing the article, delivery element in its outermost position, Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view through theinachine taken on the lmet- .6 of Fig. 3, 'and Fig. 7 is a detail perspective yview of the gravity latch.

Like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in all the iigures of the draW- ings.

- Referring, to the drawings, '.there is provideda cabinet which consists of a bottom 5, aftop'G, side walls 7-7, and a back 8. The cabinet further comprises a front wall 9, the lower edge 10 thereof being spaced from the bottom '5 ofthe cabinet, and centrally formed in said front wall and communicating with the bottoni edge lthereof, is an openinglv of spaced partitions 13-13 forming a re-4 sultant chute which communicates with a hopper 14 disposedwithiii t-he cabinet directly. below the top thereof. t

`The invention further comprises a dispensing mechanism, and this mechanism 'inchicles a dispensing element A consisting of afront wall 15, which is disposed directly A below the front 9 of the casing and between the side walls 7 thereof. This wall '15 ispreferably formed of metal, and has its ends 1(5-16 bent .inwardly to form substantially quadrential-shaped ears, each of said ears being. formed with a perforation 17 near its lower end for receiving a shaft 18 carried bythe adjacent side wall 7 of the cabinet.`

The upper edge 17 'of each ear is curved eccentric to the perforation` 17, in such amanner that the distance between the perforation 17 and 'the top edge oi the car adjacent the wall 15 is greater than the distance between the perforation and the inner portion of said top edge. Secured to the. hpper edge of the' wall 15 and the edges-17 of the ears 1G, is a curved plate 19, constitutiiig a top for the dispensing element. This top isfornied near the wall 15 with a longitudinal depressi-on 20, which is adapted when the element-is in its normal or closed position, to bc disposed directly below the vlower end of the chute for receiving one of the pencils 21 which are fed down the feed chute from the hopper. Centrally and outwardly extending from the top 19 is a inger-piece 22, by means of which the dispensing element may be swung ontwardly on the shaft 18.` nA coil spring-23 has' one `end connected' to the top 19 and -tlie other Aco end to the bottom 5- of the cabinet for auto inatically returning the said dispensing element toits normal position. y

In order to positivel lock the dispensing element `in its Vnorma 'or closed position, there is provided an L-sliaped gravity lock B, which consists of a long arm 24 and a short Varm 25. The long arm 24 is centrally pivoted to the partition 13`above the dis'- pensing element A by a Ipivotpin 26', and thel short arm 25 projects downwardly, and is adapted to normally be positioned within an opening 27 formed in the 4top 19 of said dispensing element. A cup' 28 is formed on the end of the long arirff'24 opposite the short arm' 25,"and is formed Awith a vertical ocket 29 having a concaved'bottoin 30, anV

inner end v\iva.ll. 31and an o en outer end 32. Formed in the upper en of one of the side-walls of thecasing is an openin'gv33 of a' size to freely admit any suitable coin. Communicatingv with this opening is a coin chute C. This chute includesa downwardly inclinedv portion 34 vwhich communicates with the coin opening 33,-and a downwardly extending portion 35, the lower end 36 thereof being pocket 29- otthe. gravity lock B. It. will thus be observed Athat whena coin, such as is indicated' by 37, 'isinserted through the opening ,33, the said coin willv drop down the chute C and enter the pocket 29 of the gravity lock. This lockis so fulc'rum'ed upon its pivot that upon receiving. the coin that end of the lock will drop by gravity,

lat the same time raise the short arm. 25 of said lock from, the slot 27 of the dispensingelement The coin will cause that end ofithe lockto drop until the same rests upon the top 19 of saiddispensing element. The said element is now free to be 'swung outwardly. Itwill be observed in this coi'inectionzthat when said'element is swung .outwardly the weighted end of the arm 24 will ride upon the curved top 19 of said element, and by reason of the fact that said top is Aeccentric to the pivot 17, the said end 'of the lock will be further lowered, and -as a result', the coin will be cau-sed to fall out through the open end 32 ofthe pocket 29, it being understood that the concaved bottom 30 is so formed as to prevent the coin moving until the .dispensing element A has been moved as above described. Immediately upon the release of the coin, the'short arm 25 of the lock B will be forced downwardly upon the top 19 by means of a fiat spring 38, which is carried .by the partition 13. Y

The invention further comprises a novel form of mechanism for automatically ejecting the pencil delivered after the dispensing element A has been swung outwardly. This mechanism consists of two Q r more pairs'ot' spaced guide lugs 39, which are respectively disposed directly over the mounted on each end wall 16 of the dispensing element A and below the 'depression 20. Slidably mounted within the sets of guidel lugs 39 A is an ejector finger 40, `whichis preferably formed of flat metal, -andhas its upper on each end of the element end Jformed with a `V-shaped notch 41, and

its lower end rounded, as indicated by 42; Formed in each end of the element A is a longitudinal slot 43', and projecting from the adjacent finger is a vpin 44 which projects into said. slot, and thereby limitsthe lupward movement otsaid finger. Springs 43 each have one end connected to the respective pin 44 andthe other end connected to the shaft 18'for returning the -tinger to its normal position. In order to project said fingersf. there is vpivotally mounted as at 45, upon each end wall 16 of the element A, a cani 46 one edge thereotengaging the adjacentcurved edge 42 of the nger. The lower portioi'of the4 cam 46 iSv-recessed, as at 47, to form a consequent. head 48 ati the free end of said cam. Carried by the end wallof the casing are pins 49, each pin being adapted to be engaged by the edge of the recess 47 and thehead 48 of the cam 46 when said elementA is'swung outwardly. As a resultofcsuch engagement, the cams 46 will act upon the fingers 40 to raise the "same sothat the notchesv 41, and consequently the pencil 21will be projected above the top 19 of said element A, whereupon the said pencil may be easily grasped by the operator. In this lconnection it isv to be observed that when the element A isreturned or swung inwardly toits normal positon. the cams 46v will-ride over the pins 49 and permit the springs 43 to retract the fingers 40 to their normal positions.

1. In a vending machine, a dispensing mechanism including a swinging article delivery element, a stationary pin, an ejector finger for the article carried by said element, and a cam carried by the clement and engageable with the* pin when the former is swung outwardly to actuate said finger.

2. In a lvending machine, a dispensing mechanism including a swinging article delivery elementa stationary pin, an ejector finger for the article carried by said stationaryv element, a spring connecting the finger and element -for retaining the former in its i inoperative position, anda cam carried by the 4element and engageable with the pin when the former is swung outwardly7 to actuate said finger against the tension of said spring.

3. In a vending machine, a dispensing mechanism comprising a swinging article delivery element, said element being formed of sheetinetal .andvconsisting'ot a Jfront wall having its ends'bent inwardly to form ears,

`a top connecting' said ears and fro-nt wall Loenen/o and formed with a lon tudinal article receiving depression, artic e ejector means carried'by tlieears, and a gravity actuated lock forthe element.

- 4. In a vending machine, a dispensing mechanism comprising a swinging article delivery element including a front wall, inwardly extending ears, and a top having a longitudinal article --receiving depression formed thereinandan article ejector mechanism carried by said ears.

5. In a vendingA ipa/chine, a dispensing mechanism comprising a swinging article delivery element including 'a front wall, in-

wardly extending ears, and a top' having a longitudinal article, receiving depression formed therein, andan article ejector mechanism carried by said ears, said ejector mechanism consisting of ejector fingers movaybly mounted upon the ears and disvposed in alinement with the depression of the top.

'6. In a vending machine, the combination with a cabinet includinga hopper-and ade 25 pendin ,chute, of a dispensingmechanism disposed below the chute comprising a swinging article delivery element, ejector fingers slidably mounted on said element, and means carried by the cabinet for positively actuating said ejecto-r fingers upon outward movement of said delivery element. 7. In a vending machine, the combination E with a cabinet including a hopper and a depending chute, of a dispensing mechanism disposed below the chute comprising a swinging 'article delivery element, ejectorv means carried by said element, means carried by the cabinet for positively actuating said ejector means, and resilient means con- 40 nected to the ears and to the ejector means depending chute, or a dispensing mechanism disposed below the chute comprising a swinging article delivery element, ejector,

means carried by said element, said means consisting of' ejector fingers slidably mount-v 'ed on said element, pins carried by the cabinet and respectively disposed below the fingers, cam elements pivotally connected to the article delivery element between the lower ends of the fingers and t-he adjacent pin and engageable with both to elevate the fingers upon outward movement of said delivery element, and resilient means Jfor returning the fingers to their normal ,positions upon inward movement of said dispensing element. Y

9. In a vending machine, the combination with a cabinet including a hopper and a depending chute, of a dispensingmechanism. disposed below the chute comprising a` swinging article deliver element, ejector means carried by said e ement, said means consisting of ejector fingers slidably mounted upon said element, said fingers being notched at their upper ends to receive the article to be ejected, pin and slot connections between the fingers and the element for limiting the movementsof said fingers, pins carried by the cabinet and respectively disposed below the fingers, cam elements pivotally connected to the article delivery ele- `ment between the lower ends of the fingers and the adjacentpin and engageable with both to elevate the fingers upon outward movement of said delivery element, and

resilient means for-returning the fingers to their normal positions uponv inward movement of said' dispensing element.

In testimony whereof, I afliX my signature, in presence of two witnesses. y

EUGENE W. FLINT. Witnesses:

H. P. Joiviis, j M. Al SIMON. 

